Also depends on the manual, weather or not its the T-18 or the five speed( I'm getting 130 miles per tank and its an 18 gal tank).

 

Hi well my 88 f150 supercab 351w c6 trans seems to get about 17-18 in town i have not had it out on the highway much as of yet... so i guess i am lucky from what i have read on the board......
oh and i still need to do a good tune up just havnt had the time since i got this truck about 3 mounths ago...
Take care!
James

 

Don't know if this will help.
1996 F-350 4x4 Reg Cab 5spd. 351W 4.10LS I was getting 10-14 mpg 14 was best with a tail wind.
Glen
05 F-350 4x4 Reg Cab PSD 6Spd. 3.73LS

 

There are many many MPG threads in our archives (search function finds them) that can give you a great idea of what others are getting for gas mileage...we don't need to keep listing our MPG's.

The T-18 were not used after the 90s or so (not sure of the year) so the 5 spds were used most of the time.

 

i've seen many of the mpg threads. my conclusion is you really just dont know what you're going to get with it. some people get 4 some people get 19-20. just sorta weird. i guess the happy medium is around 12 or so.

 

My 2 cents. My 88 Bronco, 302 AOD w/ 206,000 miles on original engine and I just calculated 16+ mpg on my last tank. No A/C, just the old 260.
Scott
_____________________

83 F150 Reg cab 302 2v AOD R.I.P.
88 Bronco XLT 302 AOD 206k miles & counting
99 F150 Ext cab 4.2L 5sp 194k miles & counting

"I would walk and carry a Ford hubcap before I would drive a dodge and this is Ford country, on a quiet night you can hear a chevy rust."

 

think any used car places would let me take a truck for a couple hour trip to calculate the mpg before i bought it? hahaha

 

You don't need to do that. What mostly determines gas mileage, is the condition of the engine and its management system (efi), and the general condition of the rest of the vehicle. Just have the vehicle inspected by a mechanic to make sure it's a good vehicle. Make sure the compression and oil pressure are checked on the engine to make sure they're within spec. That is a good indication of the engine's condition. I believe I mentioned it before, a search for other threads about buying a used F-series like this will pull up a lot more info then what I can type.

 

Mine had a t-18 put in the previous owners blew the 5spd up.

As of right now i get 130-150 miles per 18 gal of gas.

=Eric

 

I had a '94 F150 reg cab L.B. 4x4 for nearly seven years. It was a 5.0L with a 5-speed and was a great truck. When it was stock I averaged about 12-13 city and 16-17 hwy. I added 32" tires and it was gutless so I changed axle ratios to 4:11's and wow, what a difference in pulling power! I then added a Jacobs Pro Street ignition and my mileage went up, even with the lower gears and bigger tires. With this set up I consistently got 13.5-14 mpg city and 17-18 hwy. I consider my self a moderate driver as far as keeping my foot out of it goes. I have a friend who had a '94 with the 5.8L / auto that was virtually the same truck in stock form and mine would easily out run his. When my truck was stock it was a coin toss, but his got nearly the same gas mileage as mine, only about 1 mpg difference hwy & city. Both our trucks were extremely reliable. I only had mine in the shop 2 times for minor things (cruise control and speed control sensor) in seven years. The only issue my 5.0L had was oil usage. I bought it used, so I don't know how well the previous owner took care of it but from the day I bought it, with about 49K on it, it used about 2 quarts of oil per 3,000 mile oil change. Ford bumped up the power on the '95 trucks (the 5.0L went from 185hp to 200hp and the 5.8L went from 200hp to 210 or 215hp) so keep that in mind. Hope this helps a little. I think, as previously mentioned, whichever you find in better condition and for the right price is the one to shoot for.

 

I would bet that a 302/5spd would beat a similarly equiped 5.8/auto....that auto is the big downside, not the motor.


They bumped up the power before 95. Mainly by the fact that they went to roller lifters instead of flat tappet. More 5.0s in general had roller lifters over the 5.8s, not all that many 5.8s had rollers (in the whole scheme of things). That may be why one would say the 5.0s had a better reputation for reving, but that's simply an equipment thing and not an overall design thing.

If you were using that much oil, you had low compression or something else wrong.

 

The valves and ports in a 302 are really too big for low down torque.
They're even a bit too big for top end stuff.

The 351 has a longer stroke so air velocity through the ports and valves is faster helping to contribute to better torque.

The extra cubes and rod to stroke ratio doesn't hurt none either.

Have you seen the "slippers" that you can put into 4v heads to improve the flow?
It increases power and torque throughout the usable range. Any power gain due to effeciency will translate into a MPG gain if driven that way.
Sometimes they call them 3v heads.

 

The 302 and 351 have the same heads. The valves/ports on the E7s are pretty good for the 302's torque....it's problem isn't the heads, it's the lack of stroke. The longer the stroke the more torque. The 302's short stroke hurts it for torque and thats about as simple as it gets....

 

If I remember correctly wasn't the 302 a CAR engine to begin with???

they're for performance not towing and hauling(Even though that is what I do with it). everbody that doesn't know better thinks my 302 is a big block, If I didn't know better I'd say so too because it drinks like one.

but other than the fuel consumption i wouldn't trade it for another(unless it was a PSD).

 

do you think a shortbed or flareside bed would help a little bit on economy? even though it has 4x4? i've seen several 4x4 flaresides with the 5.8 in them. i'm not really sure what affect a smaller bed would have.